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US 9,869,739 B2Granted
Heteronuclear nuclear magnetic resonance fingerprinting
AssigneeCase Wetern Reserve University
InventorMark Griswold
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Abstract
Apparatus, methods, and other embodiments associated with heteronuclear nuclear magnetic resonance fingerprinting (NMRfp) are described. One example apparatus includes individually controllable radio frequency transmission coils configured to apply varying NMRfp RF excitations to a sample. The NMR apparatus may apply excitations in parallel. The excitations cause different nuclei to produce different signal evolutions. Different pairs of nuclei may produce different signal evolutions depending on quantum correlations between the types of nuclei.
Claims19
A method of controlling a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) apparatus, comprising:
- controlling the NMR apparatus using a computer in order to apply radio frequency (RF) energy into a volume in an object,
- where the RF energy being applied is applied in a coordinated series of two or more variable sequence blocks,
- where a variable sequence block of applied RF energy includes one or more excitation phases, one or more readout phases, and one or more waiting phases,
- where at least one sequence block in the coordinated series of two or more variable sequence blocks differs from at least one other variable sequence block in the coordinated series of two or more variable sequence blocks, in at least N sequence block parameters, with N being an integer greater than one, and where the sequence block parameters may comprise:
- relaxation time, echo time, flip angle, phase encoding, diffusion encoding, flow encoding, RF pulse amplitude, RF pulse phase, number of RF pulses, type of gradient applied between an excitation portion of a sequence block and a readout portion of a sequence block, number of gradients applied between an excitation portion of a sequence block and a readout portion of a sequence block, type of gradient applied between a readout portion of a sequence block and an excitation portion of a sequence block, number of gradients applied between a readout portion of a sequence block and an excitation portion of a sequence block, type of gradient applied during a readout portion of a sequence block, number of gradients applied during a readout portion of a sequence block, amount of RF spoiling, and amount of gradient spoiling;
- where a first member of the coordinated series of two or more variable sequence blocks is configured to cause a first nuclei type in the volume of the object to produce a first NMR signal, and
- where a second member of the coordinated series of two or more variable sequence blocks is configured to cause a second different nuclei type in the volume of the object to produce a second NMR signal;
- controlling the NMR apparatus using the computer in order to acquire a signal evolution from the volume of the object, where the acquired signal evolution is a function of NMR excitation produced by applying the RF energy in the coordinated series of two or more variable sequence blocks;
- comparing, using the computer, the acquired signal evolution to one or more of, a reference signal evolution, and a combination of reference signal evolutions in order to generate at least one image of the object that provides a heteronuclear NMR fingerprinting quantitative characterization of the volume of the object based on the nuclei present in the volume of the object;
- and
- displaying the at least one generated image of the object that provides the heteronuclear NMR fingerprinting quantitative characterization of the volume of the object on a display that Is in communication with the computer.
8 more elements
A nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) apparatus, that performs heteronuclear nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) fingerprinting, comprising:
- a computer coupled to control the NMR apparatus and programmed in order to:
- repetitively and variably sample a (k, t, E, n) space associated with an object in order to acquire a set of NMR signals associated with two or more types of nuclei in the sample, where members of the set of NMR signals are associated with different points in the (k, t, E, n) space, where k is frequency space, t is time, where E includes at least one NMR parameter, and where n is nuclei, whereby the at least one NMR parameter represented by E may comprise a parameter selected from:
- relaxation time, echo time, flip angle, phase encoding, diffusion encoding, flow encoding, radio frequency (RF) pulse amplitude, RF pulse phase, number of RF pulses, type of gradient applied between an excitation portion of a sequence block and a readout portion of a sequence block, number of gradients applied between an excitation portion of a sequence block and a readout portion of a sequence block, type of gradient applied between a readout portion of a sequence block and an excitation portion of a sequence block, number of gradients applied between a readout portion of a sequence block and an excitation portion of a sequence block, type of gradient applied during a readout portion of a sequence block, number of gradients applied during a readout portion of a sequence block, amount of RF spoiling, and amount of gradient spoiling;
- produce an NMR fingerprinting signal evolution from, the acquired set of NMR signals;
- compare the produced NMR fingerprinting signal evolution to a known referential NMR fingerprinting signal evolution or combinations of NMR fingerprinting signal evolutions, from a library, look-up-table, or database of NMR signal evolutions;
- based on comparing the produced NMR fingerprinting signal evolution to a known NMR fingerprinting signal evolution or combinations of fingerprinting signal evolutions, produce an Image of the object showing a quantitative characterization of the object based on the two or more types of nuclei that are present in the object;
- and
- a display in communication with the computer in order to receive and display the image of the object providing the quantitative characterization of the object.
5 more elements
A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer executable instructions that, when executed by a computer, control the computer to perform a heteronuclear nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) fingerprinting method with an NMR apparatus, the heteronuclear NMR fingerprinting method comprising:
- controlling, with a computer coupled to the NMR apparatus, the NMR apparatus in order to apply radio frequency (RF) energy that is suitable to produce concurrent nuclear magnetic resonance in two or more different types of nuclei that are present in a volume,
- where the two or more different types of nuclei share a quantum correlation with one another, and
- where the NMR apparatus is also controlled by the computer in order to apply the RF energy in at least two different sequence blocks that differ in at least two or more of,
- the number of α2 pulses,
- the amplitude of α2 pulses,
- the phase of α2 pulses, and
- the spacing between α2 pulses
- into the volume and acquire NMR signals therefrom;
- determining, using the computer, two or more NMR parameters of the two or more different types of nuclei by pattern matching NMR signals acquired from the volume in order to reference signal evolutions or combinations of signal evolutions from a library, look-up table, or database of NMR signal evolutions, wherein the two or more NMR parameter may include relaxation time, echo time, flip angle, phase encoding, diffusion encoding, flow encoding, RF pulse amplitude, RF pulse phase, number of RF pulses, type of gradient applied between an excitation portion of a sequence block and a readout portion of a sequence block, number of gradients applied between an excitation portion of a sequence block and a readout portion of a sequence block, type of gradient applied between a readout portion of a sequence block and an excitation portion of a sequence block,
- number of gradients applied between a readout portion of a sequence block and an excitation portion of a sequence block, type of gradient applied during a readout portion of a sequence block, number of gradients applied during a readout portion of a sequence block, amount of RF spoiling, and amount of gradient spoiling;
- using the computer, producing a heteronuclear NMR fingerprinting image based on the acquired NMR signals and the determinings of the two or more NMR parameters;
- and
- displaying the heteronuclear NMR fingerprinting image on a display in communication with the computer.
10 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.